The Omniverse
by Dookaller
Summary: When Kaiba tries to create a way to shorten the time it takes to play games, something goes horribly wrong. In order to keep from destroying the life of another version of himself, he'll have to pretend he doesn't hate everyone.
1. Chapter 1

"What are you working on Seto?" Mokuba asked a goggled Kaiba with a blowtorch.

"I've told you Mokuba, I want it to take less time to play games."

"But Big Brother, that's part of the fun of Duel Monsters."

"I know. So I'm trying to find a way for it to feel like it took a long time, but then when it's over and you turn your Duel Disk off, it's only been a little while. So far I've only been able to shave off about five minutes, but by the end of today, I'm hoping to have halved the time."

"Really, that far already?"

"Well… not with Duel Monsters… right now I'm working on the virtual reality games, our minds are much easier to manipulate there, but once I complete the process, it will only be a few weeks to have the same tech compatible with the Duel Disks."

"Do you ever think maybe you should pay other people do this research… or at least have someone help?" Mokuba asked picking up a sheet of calculations.

"Other people just get in the way. Besides, only _I _can have the credit."

"Ah… Seto… These aren't your calculations for the changes to the virtual reality game are they?"

"They are."

"Aren't these hypothetical equations?"

"In a way, but I plan to prove that─"

"You can't just start messing with machinery when your research isn't sound!"

"Mokuba… You're twelve… I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"You were twelve when you took over a multimillion dollar company. I think I can spot some faulty equations. Look here." Mokuba pointed to a place on the paper but Kaiba didn't look up from his blowtorch. "You're going to add another bolt to account for the fact that this 2 should be a 4? You should've reworked the whole problem… and and AND this looks like you're trying to transfer your whole body into the game."

"Yeah."

"While trying to lengthen time…"

"Yeah."

"Don't mess with space-time Seto. Come on, everybody knows that!"

"Mokuba." Kaiba shut off the blowtorch and turned to him, lifting his goggles to look him in the eye. "It's okay. I'll be careful. This is simple physics."

"It's like… meta-physics Seto."

"You're over reacting." He put a hand on his little brother's shoulder. "I'm just making some tweaks to a game system. It's not a trip to the moon."

Mokuba sighed. "Okay… whatever. Be careful please."

"I will."

And with that, Mokuba left the room and Kaiba to his tinkering.

Before long, it was ready for him to go in manually. He had created a small arch that was big enough for him to crawl into, that kept the wires from being all out in the open, should certain little boys come looking in his lab again. But it was also convenient because he could sit inside of it which helped with the mind over matter aspect which he had neglected to fully account for in his calculations. He glanced at the paper one last time before pressing a series of buttons and beginning to feel his head spin as it felt as though he was moving in slow motion.

_"__It's okay,"_ he thought. _"It's normal that in the beginning it may be a little disorienting. I'll fix it in the next trial."_

Suddenly he felt like his body was being lifted. Again, he believed it to be normal. These were all imaginary sensations brought on by feeling like he was actually being transported into the game, which of course he was not. He decided to close his eyes and imagine himself going there. Landing softly and feeling fine. This helped his headache go away for a moment before he felt like he was thrust forward and he heard what sounded like a small explosion.

"Oh no!" His eyes shot open. "The extra bolt! Did I remember to put it on?" There was another crash and he crawled out quickly, afraid that his machine was going to burst. But once he was out he found his body to be utterly exhausted. He turned over to lie on his back and at that moment, Mokuba ran into the room with a worried look on his face.

"Seto, are you okay?" He'd expected it to be his brother, but it was a different voice. He looked from his brother, to the person on the other side of him, to find the unholy image of his archrival Yugi Muto…

"Yugi?" Kaiba whispered.

Yugi kneeled down beside him. "Oh Seto, are you hurt?"

"I told him to stop messing with this stuff. He never listens," Mokuba whined.

"I shoulda' been watching." Yugi replied. "I didn't even know he was here."

"Me neither."

"Seto, I thought you were in Florida." Yugi said looking back down to Kaiba. "You said you'd be there for the next month making preparations for the new KaibaWorld."

"Wh… Why do you keep calling me Seto?"

"Oh god we've lost him," Mokuba said bluntly.

"You don't think he has amnesia do you?"

"No," Kaiba muttered. "No, I don't have amnesia. What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, I was just over, checking on Mokuba, since I thought you were out of town."

"That trip… that trip was last month."

"Oh… We must have miscommunicated."

"I don't remember telling you about it…" Kaiba whispered more to himself than anyone else.

"Come on Big Brother, let's go down stairs," Mokuba said soothingly trying to pull Kaiba from the floor. Kaiba took that as a cue to stand, but was almost knocked off his feet again when he felt Yugi's hand on his back, just gingerly rubbing up and down.

"Yeah, I'll make you a cup of tea," Yugi said gently.

They walked down stairs and sat Kaiba down on the couch while Yugi went into the kitchen to make some tea. Kaiba tried to protest, saying he had _people for that_. But Yugi assured him he didn't mind and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mokuba asked sitting down next to Kaiba.

Kaiba took a deep breath before answering. "Mm, I don't know if 'sure' is the right word… I'm confident I _will be_ okay… Why is Yugi acting like this? I mean he always tries to be nice but this…"

"He's just worried about you Seto."

"But why?–"

"Here you are," Yugi said breaking the conversation as he walked into the room with two mugs.

"That was fast," Mokuba said grinning.

"I can do lots of things fast. I just like to Duel nice and slow." He winked at Kaiba as he said this and handed him his mug, leaving him wondering if there was something in there he was supposed to understand that he didn't.

Yugi handed the other mug to Mokuba before saying, "I made you some hot chocolate."

"Thanks Yugi!" Mokuba said as Yugi tousled the boy's hair.

"Yes, uh… Thank you…" Kaiba said sniffing the contents of his mug wondering if it was poisoned.

Yugi sat down next to him on the opposite side as Mokuba.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Yugi asked taking the other's hand in his own.

Kaiba was taken aback by this and tried lightly to pull away, "Uh-uh, um, I am─"

Mokuba giggled suddenly and said, "I think he's going to be fine. I'll be up in my room." And with that, Mokuba darted up the stairs. Kaiba watched him go, his hand still in Yugi's, wanting desperately to shout, '_No wait, don't leave me here with this lunatic!'_

Yugi moved a little closer and Kaiba sat up a little straighter.

"Sorry about barging in. I'm a little surprised. I really did think you were out of town."

"Are you disappointed I'm not?" he asked wondering if all this sweetness was just a cover for some strange plan he'd wanted to execute with him away.

"What? No, I'm always glad when you're around," Yugi said lowering his voice and his eyelids. He shuffled a little closer and leaned up to Kaiba. Kaiba stiffened and winced when Yugi reached up and kissed him. He didn't throw a big fit or anything, he was just really confused.

It would've been different if he felt like Yugi was trying to pull this on him suddenly, but Yugi was acting as though this happened all the time. There was no nervousness, no shaking, no fear, not even the arrogance and nonchalance that would accompany someone's decision that they were going to take what they wanted and not put a care toward the consequences.

The only off emotion Kaiba detected was the slight frustration, Yugi was hiding, at his lack of returned affection. Yugi touched him as if he touched him this way every day of their lives.

"Tense much Seto?"

"What are you playing at?"

"Huh? Seriously, are you okay Seto?"

"I-I… don't know…" He blinked a few times, frowning.

"Loosen up." Yugi propped himself up on his knees and placed a hand on each of Kaiba's shoulders, shaking them back and forth. "Relax. Everything is okay." He started to rub his shoulders trying get him to let go of the stiffness in his muscles. "It's just me, just us, everything is okay. I think you should stay out of the lab for a while."

Kaiba found himself unable to disobey Yugi in that moment as he found his muscles relaxing and his eyes drooping almost like he could just fall asleep. But his mind was still racing. There was something strange going on. Was there something he was forgetting, or was he imagining the things around him? Or was something different about today than yesterday? Whatever it was, it had something to do with his technology. He needed to get up to his lab. His computer would at least tell him what went wrong. He had closed his eyes in thought as Yugi massaged his shoulders so it was unexpected once again when he felt Yugi's warm lips against his. He didn't move away, but he didn't move in. He felt Yugi move his body without moving his lips and suddenly the boy was in his lap and he felt fingers twisting in his hair. Kaiba was about to push him back, as it was all too much, when they both heard the vase of the side table fall over. The both looked over at Mokuba who said, "Sorry! I was just trying to get to the kitchen without bothering you. I'm gone, swear." He lifted the vase, which was luckily unharmed, and propped it back on the table before turning to run for the kitchen door.

"It's okay Mokuba, I should go," Yugi said sliding off Kaiba's lap.

"No, you don't have to!" Mokuba said guiltily.

"Oh I know, but I really should get home…"

"Oh… Okay, well are we still going to the beach this weekend?"

"Yeah. Oh Seto, we thought you were still going to be out of town. Do you want to go to the beach with us? Me and Mokuba and the rest of the gang?"

"Uh, well um─"

"Please Seto? You could use some time out," Mokuba cut in.

"Um, we'll see."

"Okay," Yugi said content, "Keep me posted."

He took a step forward and like it was the most normal thing in the world, planted a quick kiss on Kaiba's lips, making a loud smack when he pulled away. "Love you," he said before walking over to Mokuba and doing the same to the boy's forehead, and repeating the phrase, "Love you."

"Love you too! Bye! See you Saturday!" Mokuba said enthusiastically. And in a moment, Yugi was gone.

"I'm going up to my lab." Kaiba said after a minute.

"What? No, you just got out of there."

"And now I'm going back in."

"You're going to hurt yourself."

"I just want to check some things on the computer."

On his computer that looked less like a computer and more like the operation area of a spaceship, Kaiba typed away looking at statistics and data from the test he had done earlier. There was so little for him to go on though, it was almost as if he hadn't performed the test at all. He noticed that there had been a recorded power serge previously in the day, possibly caused by the machine itself, and in order to protect itself the virtual game system had shut down. So he'd had nowhere to go, that's why it hadn't worked. But that didn't account for everything he felt or why his life was suddenly so confusing. He walked over to where he had laid after crawling out of the arch and found his calculations which he had still had in his hand at the time. Scanning over them, he started to get a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Well sure, that was a possibility in theory, but so is friggin' magic…"

He looked back to his computer and looked up his latitude and longitude. Resent news. A picture of his I.D. Everything he could think of, but it was all normal. Yet something was slightly off about it all. He had a strange feeling, even as he did average things on his computer.

He impute his calculations into the computer and had the computer go over them again and again. He started to hyperventilate. He looked through his personal files. There were his Duel Disk schematics, a drawing Mokuba did when they were kids, a statement about Kaiba Corp. healthcare revamp, and… Pictures of himself with Yugi…

He put the equations through the computer's advanced calculator one more time, and he was convinced.

"I was transported into an alternate dimension… But not just any alternate dimension, one where Yugi Muto is not indeed my rival… but my lover."

A chill went down his spine and he found himself willingly slipping down to the floor. He shook as if he was trying to get something off his body and he stuck his tongue out making a disgusted gurgling noise. He sat there for a moment after the physical reaction passed and processed the information, then stood up saying, "Okay, I'm over it."

"Seto?"

"Huh?" Kaiba turned toward the door where he heard his brother's voice.

"I don't mean to pry, and I know you change your mind a lot and stuff but…"_Oh no. He wasn't about to ask him about the way he was acting with Yugi was he? The last thing he needed was a lecture from alternate universe Mokuba about being fickle. _"You said you'd be gone for a month. You did. And I've been alone here for two days… What are you doing here?"

"Oh um…" He thought as quickly as he could. Luckily schmoozing was one of his strong points. "It turned out it was going to take longer than I thought to finalize some paperwork. I didn't want to wait around for it to be finished, because it meant I would've been there even longer than I thought. Plus I already missed you. So I decided to come home and go back at a more opportune time. I got in early this morning… you were asleep. So I came up here to work on some things and I guess I lost track of time."

"Oh… Ha! To think all that time Yugi was helping me with my homework, you were up here, and we didn't even know."

"Yeah… funny…"

"So you are gonna go to the beach with us right? Cause it would be so fun with you, and I bet Joey and Tristan and Téa would like to see you."

"Really, them too eh?"

"Yeah they're going."

"Going? Oh right yes, that's what I was asking… Hey Mokuba?" Kaiba asked coming to the door of the laboratory and putting his hands on Mokuba's shoulders to lead him out.

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell Yugi this… I don't want him to worry, but…"

"What is it Seto?" Mokuba asked as they started down the stairs.

"I'm a little shaky on some details of my past right now… I don't know, maybe I hit my head kinda hard." Mokuba's eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows at his older brother. "Don't worry, nothing a little sleep can't fix, but I was just wondering if you would remind me of some things."

"Like what?"

"Like… How did Yugi and I meet?" Again Mokuba's eyes widened.

"I thought you were just going to ask what you had for dinner last week. Do you want me to call Dr. Slifer?"

"No, no, I'm fine, it's just everything is jumbled around in my mind, and I want to hear it from someone else." He assured him as they sat down on the couch in the living room.

"Well… er… Maybe you met at his store, or before that at school. I don't know but um… When you guys actually like started knowing each other…You wanted his grandfather's blue eyes… you couldn't get it so you uh…"

"Yes, yes okay, that's the same."

"You remember that?"

"Yeah, and then we dueled and I l…" He looked at Mokuba. A sudden thought occurred to him that maybe he had won, and maybe that was why his relationship with Yugi was different.

"You lost, and you didn't take it very well."

"Okay… and then Duelist Kingdom?"

"Uhuh."

"And Battle City."

"Uhuh."

"Atlantis?"

"That was weird."

"Agreed… Egypt?" Mokuba nodded. "Then when the heck…"

"It's nice things finally settled down after that, and you started spending time with the others."

"Oh."

"Cause like… for a while I was kinda' worried about you."

"Yeah."

"Yugi has never given up, such a good friend."

"Yeah, he's a good egg…" Kaiba said lost in thought. He wanted to know exactly how it had happened. He wanted to know when Mokuba had first seen them kiss, since it obviously wasn't today. But he didn't want to worry Mokuba anymore. It was bad enough he'd already asked how they'd met, which he had assumed would shed some light on the subject, but apparently they had the same past here as they did back home. It was like it was the same universe but split off in a different direction. Like one day, maybe Yugi thought, maybe I'll go to see Kaiba and then decided against it, and this place was created in that moment. A dimension in which he decided to go. Did that mean they were always a few meetings away from this? Or was it not a difference in Yugi or a decision or a passing meeting, but a difference in himself.

Kaiba spent the days following, until Saturday researching different dimensions and the world's theories on them. He recalculated his equations several times and he was starting to get the idea that he had one option. To reverse the machine… He just hadn't quite figured out how to do that yet. There did seem to be one other major theory to return things to normal, and that was for there to be a major disturbance in this universe, a paradox, or incorrect turn of events or something. The Universe would then try to right itself which could result in him being transferred back to his own dimension… Or, he could die. He figured he'd try to keep things as placid as possible here and just keep trying to reverse the machine. _'I'm a genius,'_ he told himself. _'I can figure it out, no problem. I mean, I have a few weeks before myself returns.'_


	2. Chapter 2

On Saturday, he agreed to go to the beach with the others. Once there, he found himself being bombarded with this thing the geek squad like to call _friendship_. Téa had hugged him, right after Yugi, and he thought for a second that he was going to have to suffer through such an affection from all of them but Tristan just hit their fists together as way of greeting and Joey had skipped the touching all together and gone straight for the chattering. Kaiba tried to be civil.

"I saw an article online that said KaibaWorld is going to have a Redeyes ride. Is that true?"

"Yeah."

"Is it good? I mean of course it's good but will it be like, uh scary?"

"Depends on your definition of scary. It's tame enough for Yugi to ride it."

"Hey!" Yugi cut in, stumbling through the sand. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means Kaiba thinks you're a wimp," Tristan said purposefully without tact.

"He does not! Seto, do you think I'm a wimp?"

There was no easy way to answer this question. At different times in his life, Kaiba had thought quite harshly of Yugi's physique and timid nature. And yet he also thought of him as rather a harsh bastard when it came to dueling, and fighting for what he believed in. For a while he'd thought that was just the spirit of the puzzle, but he realized that through all of that, Yugi had never broken and the spirit couldn't have been taking all the stress for him. He realized that when Yugi cared about something he was anything but a wimp, and yet his nature still seemed timid and gentle and this is why he analyzed the ride thus so. In the end he decided to simply tell the truth.

"All I meant was, you don't seem like you would like haunted house rides or things like that, but it's not that kind of scary, it's just fast. You can handle fast can't you? You're not vomit prone."

"That depends on what you mean by vomit prone," Téa quipped.

"Téa! Shut up," Yugi warned. "No, I don't throw up easily."

"Well good."

"But seriously," Joey started up again. "I heard there was going to be a virtual petting zoo where you get to interact with Duel Monsters!"

"It's not like you're thinking Wheeler. Our favorites would horrify the children."

"Aw, yeah they would…"

"I would still enjoy playing with ones like Happy Lover." Téa said.

"Scape Goats!" Yugi yelled suddenly. Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "You don't think that's hilarious? A petting zoo? I totally want to feed Scape Goats."

"Okay…"

"Fine. Nobody needs to understand. I don't care. I'll just be over here…" Yugi said sarcastically, putting down the sheets for them to sit on. Yugi sat down, situating their things and Kaiba sat down next to him, not knowing what else to do. Mokuba stood across from Kaiba and asked excitedly, "So are we gonna go in the water?"

"Yeah, go. Knock yourself out."

"Bro…"

"Come on Kaiba!" Joey shouted throwing off his shirt. "I'll race you."

"Not on your life."

"We'll catch up guys," Yugi assured them. Mokuba smiled a smile Kaiba didn't like and they all turned to head down the beach without the two of them. Kaiba watched them go with mild interest, slightly admiring Téa's class, as she had the body for a skimpy two-piece but wore a normal swimmer's one-piece. But her modesty did nothing to hide her figure under the tight fabric.

Kaiba had thought they were both staring ahead, but an odd feeling made him glance back, and he realized Yugi was staring at _him_.

"What?" he asked.

"Huh? Nothing." Yugi quickly looked away.

"You gonna go in the water?"

"Um… I don't know…"

Kaiba sighed. He had brought a notebook and hoped he could get away with staying up on the sand and working in it on how to get home while all of them played in the water, avoiding socializing as much as possible.

It wasn't like Yugi had the same idea. No, Yugi wasn't the quiet, stay behind, type. Something was wrong.

"Um… What's the matter Yugi?" Kaiba asked, not knowing what else to say.

"Nothing… Maybe you should just go ahead."

"What, is there a problem?"

"No, I just…"

"Just what?"

"I'm just feeling kinda insecure right now, Seto…"

That was honest. That was the most honest he had heard anyone besides his brother ever be. And even his brother usually beat around the bush harder than that. But that's right, he's supposed to be his boyfriend… or something… They were probably close. Alternate dimension Kaiba probably even knew Yugi's inner-most secrets. Kaiba shuttered.

Yugi probably expected him to say something nice, but all he could muster was, "Uh, why?"

"I don't know… I just kinda… I don't want to take my shirt off."

Had alternate dimension Kaiba seen Yugi with his shirt off? Knowing that would really help in this situation.

"I don't get it."

"Ugh, of course you don't, you're ─ You."

"Just go in with your shirt on."

"No, everyone will know that I didn't want to take it off then."

Kaiba didn't know what to do. He could just let Yugi sit here and they could change the subject but the transition would be awkward, and he wouldn't get to be alone. He could try to convince Yugi it would be okay, but it would probably come out wrong, and be insulting, since he wasn't sure what Yugi was actually feeling insecure about. It wasn't because he had been staring at the others was it? It could have appeared to Yugi he was looking at any of them, even Joey, who admittedly did look good for someone who could eat as much as he did. For a split second he wondered if the Joey from his dimension looked like that. Finally he looked at Yugi and decided he would give it the hands on approach.

Reaching out, he took the hem of Yugi's shirt into his hands and pulled the shirt over his head.

"Seto! Stop!" But is it was too late, and Yugi was bare from the waist up.

"See, you're fine. Go have fun."

"Seto…"

"What? You're fine, everything is fine. Everybody loves you, everybody has always freaking loved you. Go."

"Are you going to come down with me?"

"I'd rather not." Yugi's eyes saddened though he tried to hide it. "But er… Maybe in a little while," Kaiba continued.

"Okay."

Kaiba watched him walk away and thought, '_Why was he worried? He looks the same as he always does. That sleeveless black shirt he usually wears isn't exactly loose fitting. It's not like there's much mystery there.'_

Maybe he hadn't really been insecure about that. Maybe he was just feeling insecure in general. Maybe he had wanted Kaiba to compliment him. Or just to pay attention to him. Kaiba couldn't imagine that there was any version of him that would be good at that type of thing.

He looked down at his notebook. He immediately knew he was going to have trouble focusing. There were a lot of people at the beach on this hot day and it was somewhat loud. And something inside him just didn't feel like doing this, like it was homework. But he opened his notebook anyway, because he had to get back to his dimension.

He wrote down some procedural notes and a list of things he would need to find or buy new for the project. Part of him just wanted to repeat the original process and see what would happen, but he couldn't risk it. It was very possible this time it really would explode or hurt him in some way… Or worse, take him to a whole new dimension entirely, and though unlikely, he feared such an outcome as he was having a hard enough time with this dimension.

He found himself erasing again and again, because of just little things, like semantics. He didn't know whether to call this place a dimension or a universe. He liked dimension, merely because he could place all dimensions in _The Universe_ in his mind which encapsulated everything, but really, he knew that this universe was within a dimension, the 2nd one to be exact, so what did that make the thing that encapsulated all dimensions? What is the definition of universe and dimension? Can it refer to more than one type of place, like home meaning a town, or a house, or the dreamy metaphor of someone's arms? Or are they even vaster, like world, or even, _place. _

His head began to hurt and he was distracted. He could see out of the corner of his eye that Yugi kept looking at him. The others would occasionally glance over to him too, and he got the feeling that they had mentioned him and his resistance to go into the ocean to each other a few times by now.

He couldn't do this anymore. His brain just couldn't handle any more of this vain of thinking right now; he had to put the notebook away. He had told Yugi he'd go down 'in a little while' and it had been arguably that long. Besides, he knew that if he didn't do anything Mokuba wouldn't be happy either.

He slipped off his shirt and folded it into a square, placing it over his notebook. He stood and breathed in the fresh air before walking down to the edge of the water. Mokuba waved, and Kaiba nodded to let him know he saw him. He sat down and let the water wash over his feet. He thought maybe he could get away with just this for a while, but when the light on his legs disappeared, he realized Yugi was standing in front of him.

"Hey," Yugi said softly.

"Hey," Kaiba replied.

Yugi sat down next to him in the same position, just close enough so that Kaiba could feel Yugi's shoulder next to his.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked.

"Hm? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem a little off, is something wrong?"

"No."

"Did something happen in Florida? Mokuba told me you actually did leave, but came back like twenty-eight days early. Is everything okay with KaibaWorld?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything is fine. I just… wanted to come home."

He moved his arm slightly then, which in turn caused Yugi to move slightly, and though it had been an accident, Yugi smiled as though that was Kaiba's way of saying he had wanted to see him. Yugi slipped his hand over a few inches and took Kaiba's into his. Kaiba breathed out uncomfortably, but he didn't have to sit like that long because Joey and Tristan suddenly yelled from the water, "Get a room!"

Yugi gave an exasperated yet comical sigh and let go of Kaiba's hand. "Come on Seto, let's go in the water."

Kaiba didn't really even think about it. The last thing he wanted to do right now was think. So he just submitted and walked into the ocean with the pretense of playing with his so-called friends.

* * *

"Aright, have fun." Kaiba said as Mokuba got out of the car. Kaiba gave a friendly wave to the mother of Mokuba's schoolmate. He didn't want to seem impolite, since she was technically taking care of him for the night. Mokuba had really wanted to sleep here. Something about a marathon and zebras… Kaiba hadn't really been listening, but Mokuba had spent the night here before and he trusted the mother, so he saw no problem with it.

"Do you want to come in Mr. Kaiba?" The mother called from the door.

"Uh, I hope you don't mind if I don't, it's sort of a busy day." He called back.

She nodded and said, "I'll drop Mokuba off in the morning."

"Thanks."

He had planned on spending the rest of the evening in his lab. The possibility of this universe's version of himself returning was drawing ever closer. He still had time, but he was purposefully diminishing its length in his mind, because he didn't want to procrastinate. Besides, who knows how time was passing in his own dimension. He needed to get back to Mokuba. But Mokuba would have to wait, because when he came into his living room Yugi was sitting on the couch.

"Oh!–Uh… Hey Yugi…"

"Hey, so… I heard Mokuba was gone for the night…"

"Yes."

"And I thought we could do something."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," He stood up, walking towards Kaiba. "We could go out." He pulled Kaiba close to him and whispered, "Or we could stay in."

Kaiba laughed suddenly.

"What?" Yugi asked.

"Nothing, nothing, you just…" he let out just a few more chuckles.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No… no. Eh. This place…"

It had just come over him so quickly, the idea that Yugi Muto was coming on to him and how laughable that was. And of course he was. He was supposed to be his boyfriend right? Did he think this would never happen? '_I guess I just never really thought about it.'_

"Yugi?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you get in here?"

"My key silly."

"Of course." And he laughed again, without restriction.

"You're starting to freak me out Seto."

"We're even then… Are you hungry?" Kaiba asked noticing he was, himself.

"A little."

Kaiba started walking to the kitchen, and gestured with a flick of his wrist for Yugi to follow. Kaiba opened the fridge, and grimaced. "Hmm…"

"I could put the spinach casserole in the oven."

"Spinach casserole?"

"That your cook made while you were gone to make sure Mokuba ate?"

"Why didn't he eat it?"

"Well you were only gone for two days… Plus I think he puts off using the oven."

"I don't like you knowing more about my kitchen than I do."

"Oh get over it," Yugi said pulling the casserole out of the freezer. Kaiba was a little taken aback by this response, and yet part of him was relieved, because he knew no one was entirely sunshine and rainbows. Well, Yugi always looked like a rainbow, but that was unrelated to his personality.

Still, he was a little bothered by all this and so he tried to take the casserole from Yugi.

"Leave it to me."

"No, it's fine, I can do it."

"Let me do it."

"It's okay."

"No, I'm more than capable!" He pulled harder on the dish.

Yugi's grip tightened. "It's not a competition Seto."

"Give me the casserole," Kaiba said firmly, glaring in Yugi's eyes.

"Fine," Yugi let go of the dish and went to open the oven for Kaiba. "God I swear. It never really ends does it?" he muttered to himself.

As Kaiba placed the dish in the oven, he realized that was unnecessary. If he was going to cause a problem with this person, he should've just told him to get out when he first saw him sitting on the couch. And then he'd be in his lab working on a way home, or possibly eating peanut butter right out of the jar with a spoon.

But it wasn't right for him to just come into this dimension like a hurricane. He should just keep it at a small drizzle.

"You want some fruit?" Kaiba asked pulling a platter from the fridge.

"Fruit?"

"Yeah, thought you were hungry. That'll take a good forty-five minutes." He said directing a thumb behind him at the oven.

"…Okay."

Yugi fished forks out of the drawer and handed one to Kaiba. He ignored the funny feeling this gave him in the pit of his stomach.

"Have you seen the new episode of Gamers United?

_'__This must be some show we watch together,'_ Kaiba thought, and then said, "Uh, no."

"Oh you didn't miss much. Kasey and Diane are still fighting over Enrique."

They ended up having a long conversation; first about a show Kaiba had never seen but he tried to fake it; then about a book series Kaiba _had_ read; and finally a game KaibaCorp released, which Yugi insisted needed a sequel despite Kaiba having no plans for such. Before Kaiba had noticed, they'd each eaten quite a few pieces of watermelon and the oven timer was going off. They each had a small slice, since they had filled up on fruit and left the dish on the counter. Kaiba made himself a cup of coffee, Yugi filled up a glass of water, and they drifted into the living room.

Yugi looked around him awkwardly and then up at Kaiba as if unsure of something, yet expectant. After a moment he asked, "Wanna watch some TV?"

'_When is he planning on leaving?' _Kaiba wondered. "Sure."

Yugi turned on the television and the sound of dinosaurs roaring filled the room.

"Oh this is the episode you missed."

"I thought you said I didn't miss much."

"You didn't, they're still in the land of the dinosaurs, and Enrique is still being super petty."

_"__If we don't get back to the game room in time, we won't be able to get back to our time…" _someone on television said.

They sat and watched for a few minutes.

Kaiba was intrigued by the show, but couldn't really get into it, because he didn't know the characters. Yugi wasn't really paying attention either, since he'd seen the episode already.

"Do you care about this?" Yugi pointed to the television with the remote in his hand.

"Not really."

"You wanna do something else?"

"Like what?"

Yugi turned off the television without looking away from Kaiba. Then he deliberately let go of the remote, dropping it on the floor. He shuffled over to Kaiba and Kaiba moved back slightly, on his guard. Yugi put a hand on his knee and he stiffened. Touching was obviously growing relatively normal, but Kaiba had a strange feeling about this touch. Yugi moved a hand to the back of Kaiba's neck and went in for a kiss. Kaiba, knowing what was coming this time, instinctively moved back. Kaiba didn't even realize what he'd done until he saw the look on Yugi's face. It was almost a non-look. Emotionless and yet so filled with emotion it almost made Kaiba shiver. Yugi's lips, just slightly parted, no shape or change to his cheeks or eyebrows, everything said in his eyes. Eyes that conveyed confusion, frustration, hurt, and an uncertainness that he should feel anything at all.

"Yugi…"

"You moved away from me."

"What? I─"

"Is something wrong… with us?"

_'__I could tell him yes. I could tell him to leave and never come back, and he wouldn't and I'd be free to spend all my time in the lab… But it would be really horrible of me, and Mokuba likes Yugi, and… Alternate Universe Seto Kaiba has set up this situation. This dimension's Kaiba is either in-love with Yugi or is using him for something. How would I feel if some doppelganger came into my life and screwed everything up? If they had to live in my house… I think I would understand. If it was the same situation I may never know, but if they ruined my business, or my relations with someone…'_

"Seto, are you even listening to me?"

"Of course… What did you say?"

"I asked you if something was wrong with us, but obviously─" Yugi started to get up from the couch but Kaiba grabbed his wrists to stop him.

"Oh no, no, I heard that, I heard that."

"Ugh… Seto…"

"I'm just a little preoccupied. This project… I'm really focused on it."

"Alright… I'll leave you alone to your tinkering then."

"No, I need a distraction… I uh, I just need you to try a little harder to distract me."

Kaiba pulled Yugi close. It wasn't like he was exactly opposed to the idea. Yugi was not someone he would seek out, but he wasn't strict in his preferences. Perhaps if he was completely against anything but females this whole other dimension would have given him more of a problem, but it was merely his rivalry that left him so struck by the oddity of the situation.

Yugi giggled. His demeanor quickly softened. Perhaps he had to deal with things like this often. The way he had mentioned competition and then let it go when Kaiba had taken the casserole, suddenly gave Kaiba the idea that those little standoffs, may be few and far between, but they probably did happen.

Kaiba leaned forward but hesitated to actually break the distance. Yugi went ahead and did it for him. But only for a nanosecond, before moving back slightly, turning his head, and kissing him for just that short moment again. He pulled back only a centimeter and then leaned forward in the same movement for the same reason. He must've repeated this process thirty times, each one producing a small smack. Finally, Kaiba pushed him back on the couch and forced him to stop all this parting business.

Yugi somehow seemed to make their lips fit together like puzzle pieces and Kaiba had the thought, that Yugi had done this probably a hundred times and knew Kaiba perfectly in that way, and that he had gotten to skip all that awkward and all that learning. And he had but a passing thought he didn't hold onto, that he didn't know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

Yugi slid his fingers around Kaiba's wrist and up his arm, pulling his tight black sleeve up with them. He pulled them back down in the opposite direction, dragging his nails along Kaiba's soft skin. It tickled and Kaiba shuddered. Of course Yugi knew every little detail, and it was again making Kaiba feel exposed and unprotected that someone he never told anything to should know so much, but he held it down, swallowing it at the back of his throat, and fervently kissed Yugi with the hope that Yugi wouldn't notice how little he knew about him. He moved down and skimmed his lips over Yugi's neck, just to let him feel the skin and the breath on his collar. Yugi giggled.

"Oh Seto."

He had just began gliding his teeth over the same space, as Yugi began to say something, "Seto… Tonight. Tonight we…" when, his phone rang out, **"****_Grand-pah _****is trying to reach you. ****_Grand-pah_**** is trying to reach you."**

"Oh what do you want!?" Yugi said pulling his phone from his pocket. Kaiba moved back so that Yugi could sit up and Yugi flipped the phone open with a snap.

"Hi Grandpa!" he said as though he hadn't just been cursing receiving the phone call in the first place. "Is everything okay?"

Kaiba could hear a muffled sound coming from the phone, but couldn't make out what Yugi's grandfather was saying.

"I'm at Kaiba's… Yeah…" he said as though it should've been obvious. "Haha, you're a comedian…" His voice dripped with sarcasm. "What? …Okay. Yeah, I'll come home. I'll be back in like twenty to thirty minutes." And he hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Kaiba asked.

"Something about the garbage disposal and all the cards in the shop… I hope those two things don't have anything to do with each other…"

"Yeah…" There was an awkward silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Yugi said looking at Kaiba who was sitting on his knees having never fully sat back down.

"It's okay… Gotta do whatcha gotta do."

"You're so understanding. Sometimes I forget that."

"Eheh…"

"I should go, I totally lied to him, it'll take me like forty-five minutes to walk home in the dark." Yugi got up, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Yeah… Wait."

"Huh?"

"I could… I could take you or something."

"Or something?"

"I could take you home. In a car I mean."

"That would be great. Thanks."

Though Yugi had been fully prepared to walk home, after all he had walked to the mansion in the first place, Kaiba could tell by his simple _thanks _and lack of surprise that this was normal.

When they arrived, Kaiba watched him enter the game shop, just to make sure, and as Yugi opened the door he heard him say, "Grandpa! What happened? There's water everywhere!"

He knew it was a little mean but he chuckled softly to himself, and then took his leave.


	3. Chapter 3

"Bro?"

"Busy Mokuba."

"It's important," Mokuba said tiptoeing into Kaiba's lab.

"School?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sure you can handle it." Kaiba said, not looking up from his wrench.

"But they said I'm going to get points off my grade."

"For?"

"Missing the teacher parent meetings."

"What? What does my presence have to do with your ability as a student and overall grade?"

"I don't know…"

"Hey, what's going on up here?" Yugi asked, walking into the room and immediately putting one hand on Mokuba's shoulder and the other on his head.

"Mokuba is trying to get me to go to a parent-teacher conference. But I can't right now, because I am in the middle of something," Kaiba replied, emphasizing with a hand while still turning his wrench with the other.

"But I need someone to!" Mokuba whined.

"And what if I had been in Florida, huh?

"Then I would've been screwed!"

"Mokuba, don't talk like that," Yugi said patting the boy's head. "What if I went, Seto?"

"Huh?"

"I'm not a guardian but, I help him with his homework and stuff and I'll know what they're talking about. If you've sent me in your place they'll probably still give him his points."

"You would do that for me?" Yugi nodded like the answer was obvious. "Thank you. That would be great."

"Okay, come on Bubba."

And they were gone.

Kaiba hated those things. Even if he hadn't had things to do, he wouldn't have wanted to go. Maybe it was because he was still so young, and high school was still so fresh that it felt like _he_ was being inspected rather than Mokuba. But Yugi was still _in_ high school, he couldn't imagine why he would want to go. To spend his free time going to a school and talking with teachers about someone else… It was very… nice.

Kaiba had no sense of time when he was building and for a split second he thought they'd come back because they'd forgotten something, and they'd be on their way, but then he heard them talking and realized they were back from the conference already.

"Mokuba, I'm disappointed."

"It's no big deal."

"It is. You being the richest person in the class does not give you the right to act like a fartbag."

"It doesn't even matter because─"

"Mokuba!" Yugi lowered his voice then, but Kaiba walked to the door of his lab and could just make out the whispers as they carried up the stairs. "Do you want to end up like your brother was in high school?" There was a pause. "Then you will show respect to everyone at that school including your teachers and the staff. Do you understand me?"

"Yes."

* * *

Life kept going on as it often does, both in the worst of times and in the best of times. Kaiba stuck to his guns and kept working and working on the machine. It was taking far longer than he had hoped. Although technically functional, he didn't want to jump into it with the same reckless abandon he had the first time when he'd really only been trying to play a video game. If something went wrong, all this time he spent would have been for nothing. And perhaps a tiny part of him was procrastinating. But his sense of urgency wouldn't let that become more than a tiny part.

Mokuba found him, like he had so many times that month, in his lab, working with tools. Kaiba had never actually worked in his lab this much at any given time in his life. Usually he worked at the office somewhere between 5 and 8 days a week, and worked on projects at night when he had time, only to have them end up applying to work and having someone else mass produce them. Mokuba had no idea how much time Kaiba was spending in this workroom. Mokuba knew it was too much, but had no clue that when he was at school or out with friends, the man he thought was his brother was not working. Why would he? All he cared about was getting home, and… Alternate universe Kaiba was working. He was doing everything to his own schedule and desires, and Kaiba wasn't going to touch it.

"Seto, what are you doing?"

"Same thing I'm always doing when you come in here."

"But shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"For what?"

"It's the last Saturday of the month. You always go out with Yugi to make sure you see each other at least once a month."

"I thought that was you."

"That's the first Saturday…"

"I've seen him plenty this month."

"You guys still always go, even if you've seen each other. You said it keeps it routine."

"Listen Mokuba, if Yugi comes banging on the door demanding we go out, then you tell me, otherwise, I have things to do."

"But I also told Markus I would come over tonight."

"He can't pick you up?"

"Ugh, I don't know!" Mokuba walked away frustrated.

A few minutes later the phone started ringing. Kaiba let it ring through, but then it started ringing again.

"Mokuba! The phone!" He yelled but no one answered.

It kept ringing.

Kaiba got up sighing in exasperation, and walked to his bedroom. He didn't feel like going all the way downstairs and there was a second phone hooked up to the landline in his room. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello?" in a monotone.

"Mokuba? Is that you? Yugi's not answering his cell phone. Is he there? I wanted to talk to him since we usually see each other today and I haven't been home all month."

Kaiba was frozen. This shouldn't be happening. He can't talk to himself. He was shocked. He didn't know what to do. Somewhere in the distance he heard a doorbell ringing.

"Hello? Mokuba? Are you there?"

He hung up the phone. Deep breath. In. Out. It started to ring again.

"Seto, Yugi is here, says that… what are you doing?"

He was throwing off his white coat and black shirt and replacing it with a collared light blue one. "Come on," He pulled Mokuba by the arm, "We'll drop you at Markus' on the way."

"What about the phone?" Mokuba asked as it was still ringing.

"Do not answer it!" Kaiba said shuffling down the stairs while trying to button his shirt. "It's uh, it's a telemarketer!" He was still tucking in his shirt when Yugi saw him rush into the living room.

He put an arm around Yugi and pulled him out the door, ushering both him and Mokuba into the car.

"I didn't make any plans for tonight! I'm sorry," Kaiba said quickly still having a mini heart attack. "But we can go anywhere _you_ want, anywhere at all. We're just going to drop Mokuba off at his friend's first okay? Okay? Is that fine?"

"Yeah Seto, chill. Are you okay?"

"What?-Yeah-Totally."

"Okay…"

"It's his lab, it messes with his miiiind," Mokuba said like he himself was mad.

Yugi put a hand on Kaiba's leg and massaged just slightly as a calming gesture. Kaiba relaxed a little into his seat.

"I just really need to get back. Get home. Get out of here," Kaiba muttered under his breath before saying reassuringly, "I was just in a rush." He patted Yugi's hand with his own to emphasize his point. "I didn't realize how late it was."

"But─" Mokuba was going to mention that Kaiba had given him a whole speech about how he didn't plan on going, but he stopped himself when he saw his brother's steely glare.

"Here we are Mokuba," Kaiba said as the car pulled to a stop.

"Have fun Bub," Yugi told Mokuba. Kaiba gripped his shoulder as he got out of the car as way of goodbye.

"So, uh, where do you want to go?"

"I don't care Seto…"

"Well I said anywhere you wanted so pick something." Kaiba really didn't want to have to think, nor did he want to gage how casual or public these things usually were.

"Let's just go to that Italian place you like."

'_Say the name, say the name, say the name,' _Kaiba thought to himself.

"I can never remember the name."

"I uh…"

"You know what I'm talking about right? It's your favorite."

Kaiba hesitated. He really liked a small Italian restaurant at the end of town, but who knows if he had told Yugi that, or if they had found another together, or if that one even existed here.

"V… Vittorio's?"

"Vittorio's! Yeah, I don't know why I forget, it's so simple."

Kaiba's relief was evident on his face but Yugi said nothing.

When they entered the restaurant they were greeted like old friends and given a table in the back with a bit of privacy. They were brought bread immediately, and though Kaiba had never been one to fill up on bread, he took a roll as soon as it was on the table, to look busy so he didn't have to come up with a topic of conversation. He was half way through pulling all the middle out of the crust when Yugi asked, "Seriously are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you fiddle with food when you don't want to talk about something."

_'__Seriously? That's not true, just cause I'm doing it right now…' _Kaiba was suddenly embarrassed, dropped the bread onto his napkin, and put his hands on his knees under the table.

"I'm not hiding anything if that's what you're asking. I just couldn't think of anything to say."

"Oh. Oh, well… I heard Mokuba wants to play the oboe?"

"Yeah, I give him five minutes. I'm not going to bother getting him one until I go ba─"

"Go? Go where?"

"Nowhere, um, out of town. I can surprise him with it after my next business trip."

"You know, that's not the first time you've slipped up like that," Yugi said steadily.

And it wasn't. In maybe a dozen mundane conversations not worth mentioning, taking place over the phone or in cars or in passing over the month, Kaiba had said a variety of things along the lines of "When I'm go─""Maybe Alter─""Well in my─" And it wasn't that Kaiba was that bad at this, he felt it was merely that he'd been here too long, and keeping things from people you see for a few days at a tournament or once a week for a duel, or at the super market was a lot easier than keeping things from someone you are "close" to.

"Uh… what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You've been acting weird ever since you came back from Florida and I don't know if you found someone else there─"

"Oh Yugi no─"

"Or if you're an alien, or if you're just going crazy, but either way, I just want you to want to stay with me. I don't even care if you actually plan to stay here or you have to go to Florida, or, hell you end up in another dimension─" Kaiba started coughing loudly then. "I just want you to act like you want to be here with me."

"Yugi I… You don't understand."

"Help me understand."

"You couldn't. There isn't a way."

"Ugh…Okay."

"What?"

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"You don't feel like you can talk to me about it. I understand that. I just wish you would make me feel a little more…"

"I know."

"I love you."

"I know…"

There was silence and after a minute a waiter came to take their order. Neither of them had really looked at the menu and the waiter asked if they needed more time.

"Well," Kaiba started to say. "Yugi, do you wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah, I'm not all that hungry."

"Let's go," Kaiba said as he pulled out his wallet and laid a twenty-dollar bill on the table for the trouble.

Kaiba noticed Yugi looking out the window curiously as they drove. He wasn't taking him home, he was taking him back to the Kaiba mansion.

As they walked into the living room they were still silent. Kaiba walked directly to the wall and unplugged the phone line. Yugi didn't question it. They both planted themselves on the couch and looked in opposite directions.

"I'm sorry Seto… Maybe I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, you had a right to."

"I just want things to be normal between us."

"Aha… your normal and my normal are two very different normals."

Yugi turned to look him in the eye, his eyes wide and deep. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh Yugi, no… Stop looking at me like that I…" Yugi never blinked, just stared. Kaiba needed to make it stop. He reached forward and pulled Yugi's face to him, kissing his eyes softly. He could feel Yugi's eyelashes flutter against his lips. Yugi turned his face up and looked at Kaiba whose arms he was now utterly bundled in. He gave a look that said _I don't know if I should be happy about this situation or not_. Kaiba leaned down and kissed his lips gently. At first Yugi just let him, and he didn't know if this was what he should be doing, but then Yugi started to kiss back roughly and Kaiba knew everything would be fine.

Yugi got up on his knees so they were at the same level, wrapping his arms around the back of Kaiba's neck. Yugi pushed forward but Kaiba pushed back. It wasn't jerky, rather smooth, the driving back and forth making them swivel in an S shape, dancing like snakes in a basket.

Kaiba pushed Yugi down onto the couch and Yugi wrapped his legs around Kaiba's waist. Kaiba could feel every fragment of Yugi against himself and as he felt Yugi's fingers at his top button, he found himself wondering if this was okay.

Kisses, flirting, dates all seemed fine to keep Yugi happy and ready for when this universe's Kaiba would come home, but was it really morally okay for him to be spending this kind of time with Yugi?

His thoughts kept coming but they weren't stopping his actions. Before he knew it he had lifted them up, Yugi's legs still wrapped around his waist, and was carrying Yugi up the stairs, barely looking where he was going, still kissing him.

Kaiba tripped on the rug on the stairs, but forced himself to fall to his knees rather than on Yugi, and had someone been watching, they might not have known that the fall itself hadn't been on purpose, as they seemed to glide down and just continue right there. Yugi seemed content with staying there since he continued from where he left off at the couch, unbuttoning Kaiba's shirt.

Kaiba got another deafening blast in his mind of _'Is this okay?' _But he ignored it and lifted Yugi up again, this time determined to get to his bedroom. When he got there he let Yugi down onto his own two feet. And that's when he hesitated, because wondering if this was okay, wouldn't leave him. Yugi was not _his._ Though they seemed the same in his mind, this wasn't even Yugi, it was alternate universe Yugi, and alternate universe Yugi belonged to alternate universe Seto Kaiba. Just because he and alternate universe Kaiba had the same name, and the same visage, did that mean he had the right─

And then he would think about it no more. He just couldn't give it another thought, or tear his attention away from what was happening right now, because right in the middle of his mental discussion with himself, Yugi had managed to push him down onto his own bed and climb on top of him. When it was they were fully undressed, neither knew, only that it happened and that the comfort that they found in each other was almost unnerving, becoming in itself not an oxymoron but a paradox, going round and around in a circle between them.

Kaiba let his hands hold on to Yugi's waist as Yugi moved up and down over him. His skin was soft and slick. Yugi paused for just a moment to lean down and kiss Kaiba, dragging his nails along his chest and torso as he moved back up. Yugi's placement sitting on his body supported and yet contradicted everything he knew about Yugi. Yugi's movements became more fluid and Kaiba watched Yugi close his eyes and tilt his head back, the look on his face, absolutely mesmerizing. Kaiba closed his own eyes sinking into his other senses.

When it was over and Yugi was bundled in his arms once again, both of them hiding from the cold under his plush quilt, Kaiba kissed Yugi's forehead and thought to himself, "It'll have to be okay that that happened."

* * *

"In two days, it will be a month since I got here," Kaiba said aloud to himself.

He was reminding himself that he had two days to get out of here. He was just about ready to go, but a feeling gnawed beneath the surface. Part of him didn't want to go. He admitted that to himself.

_'__I'm not going to sit here lying to myself for my own sake. But I still have to go. I have a life back home that I have to take care of and a little brother to love. And a rival to defeat… and irritate. And even if I did stay here, I couldn't have this life. Just because I love this universe's Mokuba since I don't think I could feel anything but love for any incarnation of my brother, and I have been lulled into a familiarity with this universe's Yugi in which I expect and even enjoy his presence, does not make them mine. In theory, I could just kill this universe's Kaiba, but then two world's would lose their Seto Kaiba, and at different times in my life I've thought the world might be better for it, but I certainly don't think that now.'_

The one thing that was stopping him from leaving right then, was that he wanted to talk to Yugi just one more time before he left. He knew that the alternate version of him would be there for Yugi once he was gone, but there was just something he wanted to say.

He was doing some calculations on the computer when he heard a tiny sound. He stopped a moment, but then realized it was probably Mokuba.

Slowly and then suddenly the computer was acting up. It wasn't reacting as fast to the buttons he pushed and was even starting to show jolts of electricity sparking up from within. He couldn't figure out what was wrong, there was a clicking on the ground; was that the computer? What was going on? Kaiba pressed the keys so fast that to an on looker it would've looked like he was just pressing random buttons.

"Computer, run file-nine," he said slightly panicked.

The computer looked like it was going to crash. He would lose everything. For a second he thought Yugi's hand was on his shoulder, but it was just wishful thinking. He only had the chance to imagine it for a second. He could've sworn at that moment that he felt long fingers on his shoulder, but it was gone almost immediately and as soon as he'd felt that sensation the computer didn't crash but created a crash, starting to spark and abruptly Kaiba was thrown back from the blast. Kaiba closed his eyes upon hitting the ground.

When he opened his eyes moments later Mokuba and Yugi had come into the room.

"Seto, are you okay?" Mokuba said with a worried look on his face. Kaiba nodded but immediately turned to Yugi. Now was as good a time as any.

"Yugi?" Kaiba whispered.

"I didn't know who else to ask. Dr. Slifer won't be here for another hour," Mokuba whispered.

Yugi kneeled down beside him. "Oh Kaiba, are you hurt?"

"I told him to stop messing with this stuff. He never listens," Mokuba whined.

"Shh," he told Mokuba. He felt like he'd hit his head really hard, but he needed to talk to Yugi before he left. "Yugi, I want you to know something."

"Oh?"

"I do want to stay here with you. Maybe I can't but I _do _want to."

Yugi looked skeptical, so of course Kaiba pulled him close to seal it with a kiss.

Obviously Mokuba didn't want to see this because he immediately came up with an excuse to leave the room. "I'll go call the doctor and tell him to hurry!"

Kaiba broke the kiss softly and looked at Yugi expecting to see a happy face, thrilled to be appreciated, but what he saw was a face filled with confusion before he heard Yugi say, "What the hell Kaiba?!"

The End


End file.
